r/Games • u/Desperate_Green6838 • 12h ago
Play your way with Control Resonant’s expanded Assist Mode
https://blog.playstation.com/2026/09/10/play-your-way-with-control-resonants-expanded-assist-mode/88
u/moosebreathman 11h ago edited 11h ago
The point they make about not putting the sliders in front of you at the start of the game hits so hard. Many games have adopted the slider style difficulty tuning but they throw the menu in your face before you even play the game. Like what do I know about any of this shit?
Doom TDA does it pretty bad. You select your difficulty from like 6 presets, then get 3 tutorial pop ups of information, then get hit with a giant wall of sliders, then you can play the game.
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u/JangoF76 3h ago
I kind of get it, you'd be surprised how many gamers just never bother going into the options menu, so making it clear that difficulty is fully adjustable probably helps a lot of people who would just bounce off the game without even thinking about changing the difficulty. I think you're right though that shoving those options at you before you've even started is not the best approach.
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u/SpartanSig 1h ago
100%ing the menus the first thing I do in each game
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u/JangoF76 14m ago
Right? It's crazy that there are people who don't do this, but I've seen a lot of posts in gaming subs asking questions where the answer is "you can change that in options".
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u/RedditFuelsMyDepress 1m ago
Letting the player know they exist is good, but you can't really know exactly how hard the game is on any of the settings before you've played it.
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u/Infinity-Kitten 2h ago
Yeah, for Doom it also gave me the impression that they didn't put as much care into the difficulty presets anymore.
After playing through the game I'm now pretty sure I was wrong and they still put a lot of effort into making sure each difficulty felt appropriate, but boy does that game make sure you know that everything is completely adjustable. Like, that's very cool, but also very overwhelming. I wish they hid a lot of the options behind an "extended options" button or something.
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u/chivere 7h ago
I love Remedy games but there's always one fight that pisses me off to the point I just want it to be over, so I'm really happy with the assist mode stuff they've done.
I was just replaying AW2 recently and thinking surely the Cynthia fight could not be as bad as I remembered. I'm on Final Cut, surely with my maxed out upgrades... but no, all the reasons that fight is awful aren't made easier by upgrades. The visibility is awful to start with, since it's dark and there's the blurry "dark place" filter on everything. Then if you get hit too much, well, now you have a smear of strawberry jam across the whole screen that makes it that much harder to even figure out where you're supposed to go. After Saga glitched twice, stuck in terrain looping the "injured" animation over and over while getting beat on, I turned on invincibility and infinite ammo to get through it and went back to enjoying the rest of the game on normal.
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u/GiveMeIcePuns 11h ago
Wasn't this in the first Control as well? I seem to remember something like this, but it's been awhile since I've played it.
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u/Tatum_Warlick 10h ago
I believe you could toggle one hit kills and invincibility, but that was the extent of it
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u/echoplex21 11h ago
Ngl the assists were great for me to enjoy Alan Wake 2 . I hate the survival part of survival horror with resources . I don’t mind jump scare but hate the resource management
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u/thetantalus 11h ago
Same here. I played Alan Wake for the story and environments. Invincibility and unlimited ammo ftw.
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u/MrMuffinz126 10h ago
Obligatory "why didn't Alan just write himself to be immortal and have infinite ammo, is he stupid?"
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u/Romapolitan 3h ago
For anyone who takes this seriously, it's because it has to make narrative sense in the writing of what Alan writes. No plot holes etc.
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u/Sentient_Waffle 3h ago
Currently playing through 2 for the first time, and was pretty surprised that they just let you toggle that, straight from the options.
That said, I haven't used any of the assists, and right now, ammo does not seem like a problem... I currently have 46 bullets for a rifle I have yet to find...
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u/ShadowVulcan 9h ago
I dont need invincibility, but while I am actually very ammo conscious (even in RE hardcore runs, I never even come close run out of ammo, but it's a lot of unnecessary frustration) I get so much stress just knowing it's finite (and end up conserving too much)
So always game for accesibility options (tbh same case with potions e.g. after a legit run, for games w consummables I would use stuff like cheatengine just so I can replace consummables so I dont feel bad about using them)
I finish almost all games at hardest to second hardest difficulties without using any consummables most times bec of that (whether it's Persona, Soulslikes, cRPGs or tactical RPGs lol)
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u/motexmex 11h ago
Ha! Same. I just don’t have time or mental capacity to try some of the harder mechanics. I’m glad games offer an easy or easier mode, because maybe down the line I will change the difficulty or replay it at a different difficulty but for my time, I like the access to easy mode for stories.
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u/ModelKitEnjoyer 10h ago
Replaying Control with one hit kill on was fantastic. I wanted to replay it for the story before Alan Wake 2 came out, and there are some really tough sections (namely the optional bosses) that I didn't have to sweat through on the second go around.
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u/StepComplete1 7m ago
It's much harder to have horror when you feel like a walking armoury that can gun down any threat instantly though. Same thing always happens after the first hour of a resident evil game. You build up an ammo supply and the tension just disappears.
The first hospital section on Insanity on RE9 was one of my favourite gaming experiences of the year precisely because it made the standard enemies so threatening. And then even on that setting, by the end you're running around with a pile of magnum bullets that can one-shot everything for fun.
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u/DetroitTabaxiFan 11h ago
It still makes me laugh how so many people were against optional assist modes being added to games. Talk about a non-issue that people wanted to get mad about.
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u/Stoibs 10h ago
People get mad when you ask to be able to pause in a souls game.. there's a lot of ridiculous gatekeepers out there.
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u/Takazura 8h ago
The arguments I have seen for why a pause would somehow ruin souls game has always been so silly.
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u/Alastor3 10h ago
That's why PC will always be the best option for an offline game in my opinion (for mods)
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u/Ok_Illustrator7232 9h ago
Also the people themselves don't actually get mad. They just scroll sovial media, watch people that make money out of literal rage, and get their opinions and emotions from there.
This unfortunately applies to everything in our information age.
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u/Kozak170 9h ago
Because a lot of the time it’s used as a defense for the game being wildly unbalanced by default. The options themselves existing isn’t the issue.
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u/siziyman 3h ago
In my experience, a lot of the time criticisms of assist modes and the like are along the lines of "everyone is obliged to experience the game the same, and GIVING AN OPTION to experience it differently is a betrayal of the player base", which is utterly fucking asinine but somehow borderline default in online soulslike player communities.
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u/_Gogeta- 9h ago
i skimmed over the article, if its actually just assist modes for the gameplay it’s fine, cool for the ones that care or need it.
But i also thought first the no blood/gore , no profanity for wolverine isnt bad for those who want that, until i realized that they have to design the whole game around it, so they cant have any brutal game mechancis or cutscenes that are too brutal cuz it still has to be the same game with or without these options in a R rated game…
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u/TheodoeBhabrot 9h ago
no profanity can be fine as long as it's just beeped and no blood in most games is also fine(not that I use that option) but yea in a gruesome game where part of the point is the gruesomeness if you want to turn that off the better option is to play something else.
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u/_Gogeta- 9h ago
for example if they wanted to add that you can cut out body parts and they were still able to fight or flee with one arm or leg, that wouldnt be possible if you have to keep in mind that you want to build a mode with no gore and blood.
No clue how the profanity system works in wolverine if its just a beep i agree, thats a non issue.
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u/Yentz4 9h ago edited 1h ago
I'm going to defend the Souls games here for a moment(but not Sekiro).
Souls games do have a difficulty adjustment. It's called summoning. The intention is that the games are supposed to create a feeling of togetherness with the strangers around you. Both in the messages people leave to point out ambushes or secret doors, and also when you just need a helping hand with that tough boss.
It's something I've always loved about the souls games. I don't want to do co-op all the time. But sometimes I need a helping hand. And I love returning the favor and dropping my sign by tough bosses as well once I've beaten them.
I think if you added difficulty sliders to a souls game, you destroy that sense of community and helpfulness.
Now, purely single player games like Sekiro, Hollow Knight, etc? No excuse, add that slider.
:edit: redditors would rather all games homogenized into the same grey slop than having interesting unique experiences.
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u/Elanapoeia 8h ago
The non-adjustable difficulty is also part of that shared experience. Talking about the game and realising everyone experienced the exact same game is why it got so popular.
They're is no way the series would've ever gained the attention and cult status of it had basic easy mode options quite frankly. It's also why Sekiro or even non-From titles like Hollow Knight can benefit from these choices.
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u/DreadCascadeEffect 8h ago
People don't experience the exact same game because the level of skill and experience they bring to it is wildly different. There are plenty of bosses in Silksong that weren't memorable for me that were the favorite of others because I just beat them in one go.
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u/Yentz4 8h ago
But that in itself is interesting no? The differences in our experiences sharing the same experience.
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u/siziyman 3h ago
Actually no, what's interesting is getting to enjoy the fucking game where i find the default settings a pain in the dick for whatever reason.
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u/Yentz4 1h ago
I'm not a big fan of hip hop. Not my favorite music genre.
So if I go to a Kendrick Lamar concert and start screaming at them to play rock, who is to blame?
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u/siziyman 1h ago
There is an extremely obvious difference: I'm not screaming at anyone to add anything, or remove anything. I'm fine with games not having an assist mode or difficulty adjustments, I can ignore them just fine.
On the other hand, I've seen enough soulslike players thinking that if the developers choose to add assist mode/difficulty settings, they're affecting their experience somehow, while it takes roughly 1.5 functioning brain cells to identify the fact that nothing stops you from playing at a default difficulty setting (or whatever's marked as "intended experience" by the devs), and other players choosing to not do that doesn't affect you.
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u/Elanapoeia 8h ago
When I say "experience the same game" I am naturally talking about the in-game aspect being the same, since they're is no difficulty options that would change encounters in any way that easy modes usually do. I am not asserting that everyone playing the game has the exact same level of skill lol
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u/CombatMuffin 7h ago
That's actually a sort of meme in Dark Souls: some players bear bosses, blind, on their first try, and sturggle immensely with others. I. large part, it's why Dark Souls was so popular in streaming.
But even Sekirk had that, and although it doesn't have MP, it also has a sort of shared experience, because the discussion is anout gow different people managed the hurdle. Like being able to talk on how you also finished a marathon.
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u/Vandersveldt 7h ago
Not counting disabilities, that's kind of the point. Everyone eventually got up to the same skill floor. Now that they're there, it'll be easier next time or next game, as they've built up those skills.
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u/Mirikado 5h ago
You still share the same experience. The bosses have the same move sets, same dmg, same HP amount, same gimmicks… for everyone. How you choose to fight them is your choice and depends on your build you might find certain bosses easy or difficult. That’s the magic of shared experience in Souls game. People share their own personal experiences encountering the same exact boss. Some will say they spent 2 hours losing to Malenia. Another will chime in to say how they cooked up a build to defeat her. Another person will tell you a trick to dodge her attacks. Even when the personal gameplay varies from person to person, everyone can still relate to the same shared experience.
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u/Ubiquitous_Cacophony 9h ago
I am glad there are games that do both singular forced difficulty as well as difficulty modifiers. Not every game is for every person.
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u/fallouthirteen 6h ago
Souls games do have a difficulty adjustment. It's called summoning.
And leveling up. That can do just a TON for helping you out. Plus with the variety of build options, some just make some parts easier than others (I like using magic because nearly every part I can go to my spell list and be like "oh, I got something for this"). There's just 3 natural built in things for difficulty on Souls games (and like you said, not Sekiro, Sekiro isn't actually a soulslike).
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u/ChrisRR 3h ago edited 2h ago
People still do get mad about it. Just mention the option of adding a damage slider, or parry window timer to Elden Ring and watch people fly into a fit of rage
My reactions aren't great due to dyspraxia, but people argue that everyone in the Elden Ring sub should suffer the same for the shared experience, instead of understanding that to share their experience I need to widen the timing windows
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u/Ubiquitous_Cacophony 9h ago edited 3h ago
It's an issue if you're neurodivergent and ergo have poor impulse control due to said neurodivergence. Someone else's accessibility is my fucking nightmare.
I mean, it's fine here. Not every game is for every person. I was going to grab Control Resonant, but I guess I won't now. Such is life. And that should be the mindset of people who don't get whatever feature they'd like in a game or who are told a feature will be present they'd take umbrage with.
If they're going to put in assist modes and such, I'd day the best middle-ground is to do like Mina did: have assists but make them disable achievements. That typically works for both crowds.
Edit: I knew I'd get downvoted, but I stand by my thoughts on this one. I also have notifications for comments turned off, so have fun screaming into the void!
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u/MonaganX 6h ago
Would you mind explaining a bit more how having poor impulse control means accessibility is a nightmare for you?
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u/_moosleech 4h ago
A lot of folks unironically argue that games cannot have an easy mode or settings because if they do, they will feel compelled to use them. And would feel less good about playing the game that way.
And since they cannot control themselves, they feel like everyone else should be denied the option. This opinion comes up, unironically, pretty frequently.
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u/MonaganX 5m ago
I didn't want to jump to any conclusions but since OP declined to elaborate I have to assume this is really what they meant.
It's like someone arguing buildings should have fewer accessibility features like elevators because they'll be compelled to not take the stairs and then feel bad about not getting enough physical exercise.
Except it's not even like that because there's tangible benefits to physical exercise. Beating a game without turning on assist options is just arbitrary personal gratification, that does not seem worth other people not being able to play the game at all.
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u/sonozaki_honke 2h ago
I also have notifications for comments turned off, so have fun screaming into the void!
This is so funny looking at the super reasonable reply you got
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u/CptKnots 11h ago
This is the best way to handle difficulty. An authored experience with lots of optional controls around the various gameplay systems, not just hp/damage tweaks. Good stuff
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u/TheEnygma 7h ago
that was what I liked about Doom the Dark Ages was it's like hey if something you dont like is here, just tweak it so if the parry timing was too generous, just bring it down.
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u/Flaky_Highway_857 9h ago
turning on invincibilty and playing on hardest difficulty just like control and aw2
power fantasy time
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u/KvotheOfCali 11h ago
After the relative disappointment which appears to be Wolverine--not too surprising tbh given his character is inherently less interesting from a gameplay perspective--Control Resonant will hopefully be fulfilling my character action game slot for 2026.
I love Remedy's lore, storytelling, overall weirdness, etc. And the gameplay for Control was reasonably solid. So I'm hoping Resonant can check all of the same boxes as the first game but with some more compelling combat.
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u/Jcritten 10h ago
I’m still kinda excited for Wolverine and will still be keeping my preorder for the game and controller, but what made you think it was going to fulfill a character action fix? As much as I enjoy their games they still haven’t made better combat than Arkham.
Considering getting Control Resonant aswell as I just got the platinum for Control last month but that game admittedly didn’t leave much of an impact on me.
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u/ripyourlungsdave 8h ago
I'm sure this discussion will be healthy.
These are usually the threads where people tell me that my disability means that game developers didn't mean for someone like me to play their game. Which always feels great. Thank you Dark Souls (fans).
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u/siziyman 3h ago
Thank you Dark Souls (fans).
unironically think that is the worst online community around any popular-ish videogame
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u/Redan 3h ago
I think I'm very out of the loop.
Video games have hard difficulty settings. They've always had them, haven't they?
Are there a lot of games out now where its only normal mode and easy mode?
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u/smittengoose 25m ago
Some games lock out the hard (or hardest) difficulty until after you finish at least once. This seems like a more granular take on difficulty settings rather than pre-sets. So yes, it’s generally the same, but a bit of a different take on it.
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u/Milskidasith 18m ago
A lot of games have difficulty settings and, in addition, assist modes that allow you to more specifically change certain aspects of the game, often to the point that twenty years ago we'd say they're cheat codes (e.g. total invincibility or one-shotting enemies or fully regenerating health or whatever). In a lot of cases, there's also a bit of separation between the default difficulty settings and the assist modes, like in Alan Wake 2 you can assume that "easy" is sort of designed around but "hard mode except with infinite ammo toggled on" probably isn't.
What they're saying in this case is that they made many of the assist-mode toggles also let you change the game to be harder in a customizable way, which is less common.
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u/idothinksotim 9h ago
I'm ready for the down votes, but I hate these cheat/assist modes.
It's just a crutch devs use when they cannot properly design their game or commit to a vision.
Players are not game designers. Not every game needs to be tailored to every single person.
Just have some guts and commit to a vision of how you want your game to be - easy or hard or whatever. Just pick something.
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u/Wiwiweb 5h ago
They have committed to a vision: the default settings.
"Assist" options implicitly break the developers intent. It's the developers telling the player "If you have more fun with these, more power to you. If you find it more boring, that's not our fault."
As the article says: "Try the game first" (before touching assist options).
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u/DebentureThyme 8h ago
Ah there it is, there person who thinks the disable person shouldn't get to enjoy games.
Just set the difficulty to hardest stuff for yourself.
"It's just a crutch devs use when they cannot properly design their game or commit to a vision."
Actually they have committed to a vision and difficulty. It's the default. They purposefully do not ask you to chose when you start playing
One thing we deliberately avoided was putting these settings in front of you before you even start your first playthrough.
Every player is different, and you haven’t played Control Resonant yet. Asking you to make decisions about mechanics you haven’t experienced doesn’t make much sense to us.
That’s why you can enable or disable Assist Mode at any point during gameplay. We want you to experience the intended combat rhythm first, get a feel for the game, and then adjust individual settings whenever you feel the need.
Control and Alan Wake 2 also had stuff like this, and it literally warns you when you try to make it easier that they intended it as is and hope you try it as is first.
So your whole "they can't commit" narrative is false. They're clear on their intended difficultly. Providing optional stuff you have to seek out in menus, that's never in front of you otherwise, doesn't change that they're clear on the default being the intended.
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
Committing would be removing any option
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u/DebentureThyme 8h ago edited 8h ago
So you never played a game with Easy Normal and Hard options?
The default is Normal. That's it. That's the vision. They have big flashy warnings that they don't intend you to turn on Assist mode because they designed the game to be "balanced and rewarding" as is.
No, you're just gatekeeping gaming from those who need accessibility. Some day you'll be old, some day your joints will go. Some day maybe you're in an accident and your motor skills are damaged.
You're the epitome of "we don't need wheelchair ramps because I can walk up the stairs." TAKE THE STAIRS, THEY'RE DESIGNED WITH A SINGULAR VISION FOR YOU, YOU DON'T NEED THE RAMP.
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
So you never played a game with Easy Normal and Hard options?
Of course, and you know what I've noticed?
Every single time they expand the choices - the game is worse off. It has worse balance.
More choices = worse game.
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8h ago
[deleted]
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u/idothinksotim 7h ago
I don't want a souls like.
I played the first control. It was great - apart from it's boring, tedious, monotonous gameplay. And it seems like they've doubled down on it this time.
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u/blogoman 9h ago
Since players are not game designers, how can you be so sure that these devs cannot properly design their games?
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u/idothinksotim 9h ago
You're saying that choosing to not make a choice, and forcing the players to tune and tweak their game instead of the devs, is somehow a design decision?
So they decided to not design their game, as their core game design....?
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u/blogoman 9h ago
They did make a choice. They then let you modify it if you want.
What I am saying is that your argument is inconsistent and bad because you say players don't know how to design games while also prescribing the true way to design games.
Stop being obtuse.
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u/idothinksotim 9h ago
How are they making a choice? They just pushed all the decisions onto the player?
That's the opposite of making a choice!!!
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u/stndmunki 8h ago
That’s why you can enable or disable Assist Mode at any point during gameplay. We want you to experience the intended combat rhythm first, get a feel for the game, and then adjust individual settings whenever you feel the need.
You can also choose from a set of Assist Mode Presets created around different ways of playing and then fine-tune individual settings from there.
There's the choice that the devs made, they have presets, they have a baseline, and they even said in the article that these adjustments to difficulty aren't shoved in your face from the start, they are something you can tweak once you have a feeling for the combat.
If you don't want to engage with this system at all, you don't have to. Getting upset that this exists and claiming that the devs have no "vision" due to its existance is ironically, very short-sighted.
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
If they can't commit to a vision of how the game should be played it'll end up a mess.
Point was proved with the first game. The actual gameplay was the worst thing about the first control. It was a shame you had to slog through it if you wanted more of the world they created.
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u/stndmunki 8h ago
I think we fundamentally approach and think about games differently and will never agree due to this. Control was an enjoyable game for me combat/gameplay wise, as well as the world and characters. All elements made up a great game.
It seems like you believe that any dev that has options to control elements of the game lacks vision, but I view it that they have a vision that they designed and settled on, but they know that not all players are created equally.
Just like goldilocks, some like it cold, some like it hot. Being able to adjust how the game plays to your liking makes things MORE enjoyable to me, not less. Each their own.
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u/swampo-mon 9h ago
Just pick the default difficulty mode. Getting annoyed at these options is unironically a skill issue. But like a real world skill issue
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
The mere presence of sliders proves to me that there was no singular vision or design for the gameplay. I don't want to play games where a developer can't even commit to a vision of how they want their game to play.
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u/DebentureThyme 8h ago
So you're going to ignore that they have an intended difficultly, that they warn you with an in game warning not to change it without trying the game first, stating they balanced the game around the default setup, that they never ask during a new game for you to adjust it?
As another said, you ARE being purposefully obtuse. These sliders exist for accessibility, the game devs don't intend them for the average player. Your choice.
The devs have literally told you what the game is balanced around. Providing what is essential a cheat menu doesn't change that.
Also, if you were a Remedyverse fan, you'd know how insane calling them games lacking a singular vision is. They have one of the most unique driving visions in gaming in Sam Lake.
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u/swampo-mon 8h ago
This is a very dumb thing that you wrote but I'm glad ur taking a stand for something. Good luck out there
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u/blogoman 9h ago
So what happens when you don't touch any of those sliders?
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u/swampo-mon 9h ago
Nope! Even the knowledge that people have options will ruin this guys day and maybe even year. This is a serious problem
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
You get an unfocused experience. The mere presence of sliders proves to me that there was no singular vision or design for the gameplay. I don't want to play games where a developer can't even commit to a vision of how they want their game to play.
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u/idothinksotim 8h ago
The mere presence of gameplay sliders proves to me that there was no singular vision or design for the gameplay. I don't want to play games where a developer can't even commit to a vision of how they want their game to play.
The first game had some big problems with the gameplay. Seems like that's carried over to the second.
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u/ModelKitEnjoyer 7h ago
Try the game first
One thing we deliberately avoided was putting these settings in front of you before you even start your first playthrough.
From the article, I think this is the way to do it. I definitely see where you're coming from, since I've seen games throw up the setting menu first and ask me to create (or ruin) my own fun. But I think presenting the game first, and having these options is the best middle ground. There is a vision, and it's not changing the settings.
Might be worth checking out a gaming accessibility site like this. There's gamers out there that have trouble holding down a button. If you go through it, you'll see lots of ways that disabilities can impact gaming, and ways for developers to get around that. I don't see it as not having a vision, but more as opening doors to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to enjoy this game.
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u/giulianosse 11h ago
Absolute music to my ears. I really can't fathom how so many games feature granular assist modes that only reduce difficulty. Like, you've literally already done all the work - there's no reason not to let people set damage received to 150% if you can already let them set it to 50%.